Assignment # 4 Discourse
Community Ethnography
BACKGROUND
The key concept of this chapter is discourse community, so we’ll be examining how several authors use this
idea to describe how writing happens on the job, in clubs, at churches and
homeowner’s associations, or wherever else we see people with common goals
communicating in writing and otherwise. To prepare for this assignment, while
we’re reading the authors’ definitions of discourse community, be sure to
consider the
various discourse communities you belong to, your
respective position in them, and any communities you might like to join. This
assignment asks you to look to see how writing is constructed and used in the
world.
ASSIGNMENT
First, choose a discourse community that has
impacted you or interests you. Some possibilities include specific clubs,
occupations, organizations, or church groups that you belong to, come into
contact with, or would be interested in joining. Then, find a preliminary
answer to this research question: “What are the goals and characteristics of
this discourse community?” Your job is split into three steps:
Step 1: Collect Data
Observe members of the
discourse community while they are engaged in a
shared activity; take detailed notes (what are they doing? what kinds of things
do they say? what specialized language do they use? What do they write? How do
you know who is “in” and who is “out”?)
Collect any thing people
in that community read or write (their genres)—even very short things like forms, football plays,
notes, IMs, and text messages
Interview at least one member of the discourse community (tape record and transcribe the interview). You
might ask things like, “How long have you been here? Why are you involved? What
do X, Y, and Z words mean? How did you learn to write A, B, or C? How do you
communicate with other people [on your team, at your restaurant, etc.]?
Step 2: Analyze the Data: Use the researchers we read
(Swales, Mirabelli, Wardle, Gee, Johns) to help you organize and analyze the
data you’ve collected.
- Are there conflicts within the community? If so, why?
- Do some participants in the community have difficulty?
- Who has authority here, and where does that authority come from?
- What kinds of "modes of belonging" are newcomers using, and how are they using those modes?
- What types of "multiliteracies" do members of the community possess?
- Are members of the community stereotyped in any way regarding their literacy knowledge?
- What kinds of identity displays are present within the community and how are those displays able to earn power or prestige?
Step 3: Present Your Findings
Given all the data you’ve collected and analyzed,
decide what you want to focus on in your paper. Is there something interesting
regarding the goals of the community? Types of literacies in the community? Its
lexis or genres? Refine the above research question to fit your purpose(s) and
then construct an essay that demonstrates what you’ve learned about discourse
communities, reviews relevant literature, describes your
methodology and your findings, and presents an
answer to your specific research question.
Also, be sure to include a Works Cited page. You’ll need to have gathered all of your data on your discourse community (attended a meeting/activity, collected the genres, and interviewed at least one member) by April 8th
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete